


Second Chance

by Number8TheWriter



Category: Suicide Squad (2016)
Genre: Be gentle, Belle Reve, Belle Reve Penitentiary, Fake Science, Gen, Harley-Chato friendship showcase, Implied experimentation, Male-Female Friendship, Mpreg, Non-Graphic Violence, Self-Indulgent, Waller is an asshole, graphic birth, i wrote this in 2016, like dont look at me self indulgent, like super self indulgent, no beta we die like men, probably not Belle Reeve's real layout, sort of i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-26 03:43:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20037358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Number8TheWriter/pseuds/Number8TheWriter
Summary: What if you were given a second chance at a family? Would you take it, even after you ruined your first family? Would you think you're worthy of another chance at family?Chato thinks he is.





	Second Chance

**Author's Note:**

> Hello dear readers! I'm so glad to see you all again! I know you're all probably DYING for an update for Post Hoc, and I'm afraid to say I've hit a bit of a snag- but I will get back to work on it very soon! In the meantime, I've taken the liberty of reposting a work from my main account here for you all! I'm cleaning that account up so that I can start posting newer works, but I didn't just want this story to disappear, even if it is, well... going on 3 years old at this point.
> 
> Either way, I do hope you all enjoy! This was the first 1k+ work that I ever finished and at the time, I was quite proud! I've rambled long enough, enjoy~

Waller had told him the experiments were optional, but when he heard if it was successful he could have up to half his sentience shaved off, he decided to try it out. If he died in the process, it wouldn't matter all that much to him, and either way Waller would have what she wanted. If it was successful, he wouldn't really know what to do. Of course he didn't know what it was, either. 

"Just an injection Mr Santana, then we'll check up on you in a few weeks." The nurse had said. At the time, it sounded easy. Almost too easy. 

He was hoping that was soon, because he had been off his game. Halfway through a mission he stopped to throw up, having become queasy by the mere smell of whatever food Digger was eating. Needless to say he felt significantly less scary. 

And significantly more helpless when the guards came for him while he was hunched over the toilet bowl in his new cell, having been freed from the tube. 

"Come on cabron, can't you tell I'm sick--" 

"You're not sick, Diablo." 

The nurse was examining him way too thoroughly for his tastes. She took blood, left for a few minutes and came back, a smile on her face. 

"The experiment worked!" She announced. "Congratulations Mr Santana, you're pregnant!" 

That's not how pregnancy works. He had two kids before, they came out of Grace, not him. Guys didn't have wombs, he didn't even know how this was possible. 

"Inform Amanda! She'll be thrilled! Take him back, gently, there's a baby in there!" 

He did not appreciate the humor of the guards tacking a 'baby on board' sticker to his cell door. 

\- 

The helicopter ride on the next mission made him airsick, but at least he wasn't showing too badly yet. He didn't even know if he would show that much. Harley was looking at him inquisitively, only to suddenly have a smile bloom on her face when he absentmindedly touched his stomach. 

"Aye Chato, isn't there something you wanna tell us?" Harley asked him as he spat into the bucket Rick had so unceremoniously tossed at him for their flight home. 

"Ay yeah, like maybe why you've suddenly been allowed to go out in the yard! I'm still stuck in solitary, ya sheila!" Digger complained. 

Chato pulled his letterman tighter across his shoulders, feeling a cold flash coming on. This kid was making him sick and now it also was making him cold. He buttoned up the front in case his wife-beater didn't conceal the bump well enough. It wasn't big, but if you looked long enough, it was noticeable. 

"Maybe it's just good behavior, Digger." He commented. For a moment, the Aussie fumed, but then he got a look of endearment. 

"Look at that, we've rubbed off on him mates!" 

A few hours after they got back to Belle Reave, he started bleeding. Like, down there. The nurse examined it and worried he was having a miscarriage. Then the pains started. 

Shooting pains, radiating from his solar plexus down to his pubic bone, thumping in his sides along to his heart beat, shooting down his thighs. They left him breathless and sweaty, soaking through his prison uniform, turning his orange shirt red. 

Chato didn't know why he was sad he could loose this thing curled up in his belly. Maybe he missed his own kids. Maybe it was another way to redemption. He curled up in the fetal position and didn't think about it. 

"Aye Diablo. That kid needs you to move." Rick Flag was bad at encouragement. But he was right. If he was to have a shot at keeping the pregnancy, the kid needed him to move. 

The yard was empty. It always was when they took him out there. Too dangerous, they would say, for you and the other prisoners. 

Walking hurt. It hurt his back, it hurt his belly, it hurt his legs. It hurt his swollen ankles. The baby needed him to walk, but it hurt. He inched his way across the yard, taking baby steps. Each step, a prayer to God for strength. Strength he was afraid he didn't have. 

"Chato!" That voice was almost too familiar.

"Harley?" He turned. The guards looked nervous. 

Amanda was putting the now most vulnerable prisoner in with one of the most dangerous. The entire yard held its breath as Harley skipped over to meet Chato. 

"Thought we'd walk together!" She smiled, sticking her hand out. She must have meant for him to take it, and eventually, after a few moments of silence, he did. 

Harley was humming, swinging their clasped hands between them as they walked. "So I heard you were erm-- expecting." 

He pursed his lips. 

"Waller told me that you were having some problems, said you might loose the baby, so I asked to see you! Thought I'd come cheer you up!" 

Chato allowed a small smile to form. Harley had him distracted from the pain, they hadn't been walking faster than the snail crawl a moment ago. 

"So how much longer does Diablo Jr. have to cook?"

"Uh, Doc says maybe five and a half months." He was barely halfway to the end of the pregnancy. 

The breeze highlighted the bump against Chato's body, now more noticeable than before. Harley's face lit up when she noticed. 

"Am I allowed to feel?" She asked excitedly, other hand already reaching out to touch it. 

"You can try, but, he kinda hasn't moved for a bit." Chato shifted, putting his own hand on his stomach. He couldn't feel the usual movements inside him. They had stopped when he started bleeding. 

"I bet when he realizes he has an audience he'll put on a little show." Harley put her hand on the side of his swollen belly, holding it there for almost a full minute when suddenly-- 

"Whoah!" 

"De nada, padre un dios." The kid was still alive. For a moment, he didn't care about the achy ribs he got from all of the kicking. 

He and Harley continued chatting like that for a little while longer, and for a little while, the yard seemed bigger, and more friendly. Chato didn't mind walking anymore, so long as he had a friend. 

That night however, he got sick. Violently sick. He sat in front of the toilet for over an hour dry heaving, after choking up all of his dinner. The nurse wagered it was food poisoning. 

Chato was curled up on his bed, shivering, his thin sheets pulled tightly around himself. His belly pressed up against his thighs, the kid inside of him wriggled around at the decrease in space. Even the guards were worried about him. 

Loosing a pregnancy could result in death for all parties involved. 

A little part of him believed that loosing the baby was probably for the best. He wasn't built to birth babies, and not only that, what was Amanda going to do with the baby once he gave birth. She certainly wasn't going to let him keep it, maybe she would experiment on that one and make him have another. He didn't want to think about going through this again. How did Grace do this twice? She didn't have any complications like he did, but they were probably caused because he was a guy. 

-

"Diablo." 

"What?" He was leaning against the wall on his bed, sheets draped over his shoulders. His arms were curled around his stomach. He didn't feel good. 

It had been a month since he had gotten food poisoning, it had long since cleared up, but he still felt sick, especially in the mornings, like now. He was often tired and walked barefoot as even his clanchas were a nightmare to put on with his swollen feet. 

"You've got visitors waiting in the yard." At least one good thing was happening today. 

As Chato got to his feet, he arced his back. He had no idea how Grace didn't complain about this back pain, but since she didn't, he wouldn't either. It was penance. He walked to the guards, who had opened up the cell door. 

"Come on man, at least wear socks. You're kind of in an ultra-delicate condition." One guard said. 

"'M not glass, man." He sighed. He wasn't going to even try to bend over today. 

The guard held his hands up in mock surrender, "alright, alright whatever you say." 

Floyd Lawton and Harley Quinn were waiting for him in the yard. 

"I thought about bringing Boomer but they said he was too violent!" Harley mused as he walked over.

"Digger is too violent, Harley. You're only out here because you and Chato are friends." Floyd countered. 

Harley gasped. "Did'ya hear that Chato! We're friends!" 

"We've been friends." He chuckled. 

"So, am I allowed to get near you, or are those guys up there in the towers gonna shoot me if I do." Floyd asked, pointing nervously at the guard towers that were normally used to break up fights. 

"Ese, they let Harley hold my hand." 

"That was a bonding moment! You looked hurt!" 

The guards had to do a full sweep of the yard to find them, seeing as they had gone over to the far side to sit in the shade. Chato was laying on the grass, Floyd leaned up against the concrete wall and Harley lay on her stomach. 

Harley was making flower crowns out of the weeds in the grass. 

"I'm so glad you look so much better than the last time I saw you! Floyd, you would not believe--" 

"Harley, when you last saw me I almost lost the baby." 

"How did it even get inside you?" Floyd asked. It was a genuine question. 

"Waller shot me full of something. Said if it worked I get off half my sentence." He explained, absentmindedly resting a hand on his belly. The baby wasn't moving, Chato assumed he went to sleep.

"So how is maternity treatin' you?" Floyd continued with another question. 

"Well ese, I'm not wearing shoes, I can't bend over well. My back is killing me. I'm still throwin' up almost every morning. But it's not all bad, I get some special privileges. Like not getting wrestled to the ground by the guards." He almost smirked. The guards weren't allowed to slam the six-months pregnant convict into the ground, Waller would personally kill all of them. She couldn't risk loosing her experiment. 

"Whaddya think is gonna happen to your little bun once he's cooked?" Harley asked, rolling upside down.

"I- I don't know. Waller never told me." He needs to ask her next time he sees her. He wants to know what she's going to do after the baby came out.

"S'about time we found you three!" A guard's voice came from a few feet away. "Thought you might have escaped!" 

"It was hot!" Harley whined. 

"You really think I can climb like is?" Chato sighed as he got up. 

Harley gasped, "You thought I would just leave? Without my friends?" 

"You think I could get out without my shit?" Floyd added simply.

"No? Let's go!" The guard commanded, ushering everyone inside. 

The guards found it easier just to leave a heavily pregnant Chato with one guard and assign the others to escorting Harley and Floyd back to their cells. They steered him back towards his cell, hands cuffed behind his back, like he would try something. If it was some other time, after all that had happened? Maybe. But now? No, too risky. 

The best part about being pregnant? The food. They didn't feed him loaf anymore, he reasoned Waller wanted his kid to have high brain function. You probably couldn't get those nutrients from loaf. Not only that, but since he was eating better he had a boost in energy. 

He heard the food slot on his cell creak open. "What's for dinner?" 

"Something you're gonna barf up in the morning." 

Ah, Private Griggs brought him food. 

"Well, cabron, my stomach's been feeling better." He heaved himself up off his bed to go get dinner. Private Griggs just stared at him through the slot. 

"I can't believe she's wasting all these resources for that fucking baby. And it's on someone like you." Chato paused on his walk back to his bed. "She's not gonna let you keep that baby, Diablo. All of this is for that kid and once he's out you're going right back in that damn tube." Griggs shut the slot and walked away, chuckling to himself. 

Chato felt numb. He felt like he was watching himself as he ate and went through his nighttime rituals, before going to bed. Good day, shitty end to it though. He hoped sleep would give some relief. 

It didn't.

Chato was in labor. His breathing was erratic, the doctors encouraged him to take a deep breath and breathe in short little bursts. Someone clutched at his hand, whoever it was had red acrylic nails. Amanda Waller, the sicko, was with the doctor between his legs. 

Sharp pains ran up his sides and he shrieked after a particularly strong one. A nurse told him to push. In a brief moment he allowed him mind to think back to 'how the hell did Grace do this twice?' before pushing. 

The doctor brought the bassinet around, he raised his head to look, but it was covered with a blanket. She smiled at him, asked him if he wanted to see. He nodded, eager to see. 

She lifted the blanket to reveal thousands and thousands of beetles, centipedes, worms and other things with multiple legs and wings. Chato felt sick. 

He shot straight up in his bed, breathing heavily, covered in a cold sweat. He gagged at the memory of all of the bugs, wondering for a feverish moment if they were crawling around in his belly at that very second. His stomach heaved. 

Griggs was right, he did throw up dinner that morning. Very, very early in the morning. 

-

"You threw up this morning. Something wrong?" The nurse asked him after his exam. 

"Just some odd dreams, señora." Chato put his hands on his swollen abdomen protectively. He would be surprised, but he figured Waller had cameras in their cells. "How did you know?" 

"Waller told me. She wanted to make sure Diablo Jr. and his daddy are okay." She smiled, a cheery, kind smile. He needed that. 

"Did she tell you what she was gonna do when he's born, señora?" He asked. He was pushing his luck.

She gave him another smile, this one more forced. "No, I'm sorry Mr Santana. If she did, I don't think I'd be allowed to tell you either, but I assure you she has you and the baby's best interest at heart." He chuckled. Waller didn't have a heart. 

\- 

Chato read the bible aloud for the baby, stroking his stomach unconsciously with his thumb. He wanted him to know God, and know that God loved him, even if his father was cursed. He remembered doing this with Grace. God knows she needed help with their son, he was a little hellion.

"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.. Matthew 6:21. It's about family, mijo." 

"Like you would know anything about family, Diablo." Griggs was back. 

"Leave me alone." Chato frowned. That probably wouldn't get him to go away, but it was worth a shot. He was usually at Floyd's cell, why did he keep coming here. 

"Here's your lunch, snowflake. Hope it gives you indigestion." Griggs shoved the food through the slot, shutting it before Chato could say anything or get up. At least he left him alone this time. 

"How much longer till the baby comes, señora?" He mused one day. His belly was bigger. His hips were achy and he was having a harder time sleeping than usual. 

"Well, you've just entered week twenty eight, you've got maybe three months left." The nurse answered. "Why? Excited? Are you counting down the days till he's here?" 

More like counting down the days he had left with him. "Sí, I'm excited." He cracked a smile. 

"You know, I never told you the gender, you just started calling the baby a he and--" 

"No, I'd like to keep it a surprise, if that's okay with you." 

"Oh-- of course." She nodded, respecting his wishes. 

Outside in the yard, Chato confided his fears in Harley and Floyd. 

"I'm scared they're gonna take him away." 

"What did you think was gonna happen?" Floyd asked, "That you and the kid could just live happily ever after?" 

"I thought you would have more sympathy, seeing as you have a daughter, ese." He crossed his arms. 

"I do, but did you think it was gonna be okay? Nothing ever works out okay for us." 

"Hey, I got an expresso machine!" Harley interjected. "And maybe we can do somethin' about it, I'm gettin' tired of sitting in a cage twenty three hours a day. Whaddya say we break out?" 

"Break out of Belle Reave?" Floyd snickered. "No way." 

"Why not try it? I'm in, chica." Chato said, "How is it gonna go down." 

Harley smiled, that crazy little smile that let everyone know she was up to something, and whispered. 

"I have a razor blade." 

\- 

With that knowledge in mind, Chato was significantly happier as he was escorted back to his cell. He trusted Harley more than he trusted Waller, he knew she would come for him and the rest of the squad when she saw an opportunity. 

Griggs came by with his dinner. 

"What you so smiley about, Diablo?" He chuckled, "You think you're getting out? You're not allowed to go on more squad missions till you pop out that kid." 

Chato smiled as he took his dinner back into his cell. "Whatever you say, cabron." The food tasted better than normal. 

"I hope it makes you barf." Then he slammed the slot shut. 

That night he was curled up in bed when pain shot through his stomach. It felt like being stabbed. After a few minutes, it came again. Then maybe half an hour later, another one. Then when he was almost asleep, there came another pain. 

He deduced it was probably Braxton hicks and got up for a little while, pacing his cell for maybe twenty minutes. Usually position changes quell false labor pains, but once he laid back down, the baby decided that one in the morning was the best time to get some exercise. He wriggled around uncomfortably, back and hips aching, baby kicking. Finally he managed to find a position that he felt comfortable in, but the baby still bounced around wildly inside of him. The kid was going to be hell for Waller if she did take him from him. 

Chato rubbed his middle, trying to sooth the baby to sleep. He stared at the grey concrete of his cell and did something he hadn't done in a long time. 

He sang a lullaby.

\- 

His due date ticked closer, and Chato was starting to get nervous. Harley hadn't carried out her plan yet, the nurse wasn't telling him what was going to happen after the baby came, and moreover, he didn't know how the baby was suppose to come out. The guards treated him like he was made of glass, Private Griggs still taunted him. 

"Harley this kid isn't gonna be in here for much longer." He reminded her on their daily walk. He wasn't really 'walking' anymore, it had turned into more of a waddle. 

"Oh I know, he looks about ready to burst out of there like an alien parasite!" She burst into giggles at her own humor, earning her a little chuckle from Chato as well. "But in all seriousness, I'm ready to do it now. I'm gonna talk to my puddin' today or tomorrow." She winked at him. 

"Thanks, Harley." He offered her a smile as the guards moved in to take them back to their respective cells, she smiled. 

"No problem Chato!" She smiled a wide, tooth-filled grin. 

Back in his cell, he found himself cleaning to distract himself from the backache that wouldn't go away. Most of the time it would go away if he changed positions, but this time it was constant. His hips and stomach were hurting too, but it was mild, and since it happened often, he didn't worry about it that much. 

He could hear Griggs open the slot, but before he could say anything, he looked down the hall at a commotion that had sprung up. "Hey, Floyd, what the--" And a fist connected with his jaw. 

"Aye ese, could really use some of your fire power right now!" Floyd yelled from outside the cell door, the background filled with Harley's giggling. The door clicked and flung open. 

"Hey can we swing by the lower floors, I kind of need my shit to be much use!" Digger hissed as Chato stepped out of his cell to take a look around. "Oh boy you sure look different, the hell are they feeding you man?" 

"Get behind me." The room temperature was already rising. "It's about to get muy caliente up in this bitch." 

The blast of fire was enough to keep the guards away for a few moments, the floor being so hot after the initial fire that it melted the rubber on their boot soles and left them trapped till it cooled down. The squad took off in the opposite direct, heading for the lower floors to get Killer Croc and get suited up to leave. 

Getting Waylon was easier than expected, he had heard the commotion in the floors above him and knew he was leaving. 

"Do we even know where our shit is?" Harley wondered suddenly. They were usually outside when Flag turned them loose on black boxes with their stuff in it. 

"The armory." Floyd piped up. 

"Oh yeah? How do you know that?" Digger sneered. 

"Because that's where Flag takes me when he wants a few pointers. All our shit's in there." He explained, taking off in another direction. 

Chato's stomach cramped harder, he tried to block it out. He could deal with Braxton hicks later- but this was stronger than most of them. He ignored it. He couldn't afford to get vulnerable now. 

"It's here--" Floyd tried the door, but it was locked. 

"Stand aside, sheilas, I got this." Digger pushed him out of the way. "Lemme see that, love." He motioned for Harley to hand him her makeshift shiv. 

Suddenly another cramp came on, stronger than before. Chato let out a gasp and hunched over for a second. 

"Oh no, don't tell me it's coming out now--"

"Come on man, suck that thing back up in ya' and wait till I get this open will ya?" 

"Chato, I've got some good words to keep ya calm, don't worry, say goosfraba for me." 

"I'm fine--" He stood back up as the door clicked, Digger ushering everyone inside. 

The door slammed behind them, Waylon pushing over cabinet full of weapons in front of the door. They were safe in the armory, for now, but there was no way to get out, it was a windowless room. The ceiling was high, the rafters were exposed. The walls were filled with guns. 

"Aye Chato, found your stuff." Floyd tossed him the black box with his civvies. 

Getting dressed was a bit more challenging with the bump in the way. Thank god his pants were joggers. Getting his shoes on was much more challenging, and he ended up rolling around on the ground like a rolly-polly for a few minutes trying to get them on. 

There was a thump that came from the door. Floyd raised his gun, it wasn't loaded yet, he didn't have time to load it yet. More thumps came, it sounded like they had a battering ram. All of them were trapped. Chato was in early labor. Floyd was suddenly scrambling for ammo, when he couldn't find it, he threw his gun aside and ran towards the wall full of guns, hoping they had full magazines. The wood from the door splintered inwards as the battering ram broke through. 

"Stay back, cabrons." Chato stepped forwards, fists flaming, though he wasn't sure he looked all that intimidating at the moment. Regardless, some of the guards looked nervous, maybe because they didn't want to hurt him. "What hermano? Scared you're gonna get your ass kicked by a pregnant dude?"

Chato kept taunting the guards, whilst Floyd found a cache of ammunition and Digger scaled the wall into the rafters. 

"Jump Boomer!" Harley screeched and chaos broke out as Digger fell right into the thick of the guards. Floyd opened fire, Chato retreated back to Harley and Waylon.

Thanks to Croc pushing over a cabinet full of guns, a lot of the guards were clumsier than normal since there were many more things to trip over. Unfortunately, this made Digger trip too, and there was only one of him. 

He found himself face-to-face with Private Griggs, who had landed on the ground before him, and he had landed on top. "Harkness-!" He growled before Digger punched him in the jaw. He picked up one of his boomerangs and plunged it into his cheek, getting a howl and a punch to the face, sending him sprawling to the floor. He was surrounded, heart pounding like a cornered animal. Kicks flew in from all directions. 

There came a whine from a bullet and the guards fell one by one. God bless Deadshot. Croc came stomping over, throwing guards against the ground. Digger was able to get to his feet and even brush himself off. He felt quite pleased, since he took out Griggs and all. He was in one piece, save for a bunch of purple-blue bruises.

"Let's go, before they send more after us." Floyd commanded, "Let's move!" 

Chato swallowed another groan as another cramp came over him. They were coming once every twenty or so minutes. Harley looked at him, concern in her eyes. 

"Don't worry, he's not coming for a while, this is just the beginning, you can do it." She tugged at his hand, and they ran after everyone, bringing up the rear. 

As they ran out, Digger flipped the bird at the 'Till death do us part' decal on the front of Belle Reave. It felt good to be out, without a bomb threatening to go off in your neck. He kicked in the window of one of the nearest cars and climbed inside, pulling out cords in an attempt to hot wire the car. 

"Hey Digger hurry yo ass up, I have a feeling they're sending more guards after us.." Floyd urged, tightening his grip on his rifle, feeling nervous. 

"'M goin' as fast as I can! Ha!" The car revved to life. "Get your asses in here!" 

Upon entering the car, Chato had another contraction. He groaned, wrapping his arms around his middle, scrunching his eyes up and waiting for it to pass. 

"Chato, how fast is that baby comin'?" Floyd asked, looking back from the passenger seat to the backseat where Chato sat next to the window. 

"Dunno.." He said, sitting up as he recovered from the most recent contraction. 

"He's still got a little while to go, this ain't the movies." Harley voiced. 

"How do you know?" Chato mumbled. Truth be told he didn't know himself. He missed the birth of his first child, and just barely made it for the birth of his second. 

"You ain't the only one who had kids, Santana." She said pointedly. 

-

"I say we just break the damn door down." Digger grumbled as he jimmied the lock, still using Harley's shiv to try and open it up. 

"Negative, we still need this place to be secure, man." Floyd said, standing right behind the kleptomaniac. 

"Safety is an illusion!" Harley chirped. 

The door popped open and everyone went inside, Floyd and Waylon in front, Chato in the rear. A fine layer of dust lay over all of the place, it was clear no one had lived there in ages. There was no furniture, but when Waylon flipped the lightswitch, the power hummed to life. Digger ran outside to pull the 'for sale' sign out of the ground. 

"Hope nobody saw us." He chuckled, tossing it somewhere in the entree way before closing the door. 

Chato sank to the carpeted floor, breathing through another contraction. They were getting closer together. It didn't seem right though, his due date wasn't for another two weeks. 

"You doin' alright Chato? Give us the stats." Floyd put his gun down on the kitchen bar, already making the house his home. 

"They're coming closer together." He said, "I'm not due for another two weeks." 

"Well Chato I hate to break it to you but you're smack dab in the middle of labor." Harley informed him. "It'll be okay, you're close enough!" 

"But what about afterwards--" 

"Don't worry bout that. We got you." Waylon said.

They all decided that since he was the least recognizable, Floyd would go grocery shopping with what Digger had in his pockets, which it turns out, was a lot. Apparently they didn't check his pockets before they put his clothes back in the armory. Floyd agreed begrudgingly, stripping off his Deadshot outfit and taking Digger's pants. 

"How do I look?" He asked, doing a little twirl in the improvised civvies. 

"Amazingly unremarkable." Harley smiled. "Now go get us some food, I'm starving!" 

\- 

Chato had been pacing in the living room for over an hour. He took off his letterman, stating it was too hot. 

They could tell when a contraction hit him, his shoulders would tighten up and he drew inward, but kept pacing. If it gave him something to focus on other than the pain, than more power to him. 

"Floyd's been gone for a while." Harley mentioned. 

"You think Waller got him?" Digger asked, sharpening one of his boomerangs. 

"Maybe he ran off." Waylon suggested. 

"Croc why would you even suggest that? He wouldn't leave!" Harley countered. 

"Yeah, it woulda been me, but he took my fuckin' pants." Digger laughed, testing the boomerang's blade on his thumb, then went back to sharpening.

"Maybe he's just taking his time." Chato deadpanned, he stopped pacing for a moment and sat down with the other three.

"How ya holding up?" Harley asked. 

"Bout as good as I was thirty minutes ago." The contractions were getting closer together, they were maybe ten minutes apart now. He didn't know where the baby was going to come out, but he had a theory, and it involved a lot of pain and blood. 

The door opened and everyone turned around, ready to strike if needed, but it was only Floyd. "Honey, I'm home!" He said in an almost sing-song voice. He set the grocery bags on the floor. "Tear out guys. Not only did I get food but I got us blankets and paper plates." 

Chato got up and started pacing again, feeling another contraction. It was just easier to pace at this point than do anything else. He noticed the baby was moving less now, there was more pressure on his hips. It made him nervous. 

"What's up man?" Floyd had started pacing with him. 

"I'm scared we're gonna have to go get him. He's got no way to get out." Chato stroked his stomach, something he had become accustomed to over the past eight months. 

"Hey man, if we get to that point, we'll get him out, don't worry." Floyd gave him a pat on the shoulder and left him to himself. He paced more, tracking the contractions. They were getting closer and closer together. 

As the night drew on, he tried to rest. Unfortunately it's a little hard to rest with strong contractions coming every five minutes. The pressure on his hips was getting immense, his back throbbed. He flipped over onto his right side, hoping the change in position would help, but it had little to no effect. 

It seemed he had plateaued for the moment, with contractions coming consistently every five minutes. Two hours passed with little to no change. 

At three-o-one in the morning when the contraction hit, it hit hard. It took him by surprise and he cried out in pain. Immediately, everyone was upon him. 

"What's happening, talk to us Chato." Harley asked, stroking his forehead. 

"Aye mate is it happenin' now? It's not even morning?" 

A grunt from Croc. 

Floyd made a decision. "Digger. Give me one of your boomerangs." 

"Wha? Why?" He sputtered. 

"Now." He held out his hand for said item. "Chato, I'm gonna go in and get him." 

Chato nodded. He tried to brace himself, knowing that it would hurt. He wouldn't lie and say he wasn't scared, so when Harley took his hand, he held on for dear life.

Digger reluctantly handed Floyd the boomerang he had been sharpening earlier. Floyd used part of his sleeve to make a makeshift handle on one end of the boomerang. He turned to Chato and pulled up his tank top, putting the sharp end of the boomerang on his belly and everyone exploded. 

"What in the blue hell are ya' doin' Lawton?" 

"What are ya doing with that?" 

"You're gonna hurt him!" 

"Relax." Chato licked his lips, "This is the only way he's coming out." 

They calmed down, but watched anxiously. Floyd once again put the sharp end on Chato's stomach. He pressed his lips together and pressed down with his makeshift knife. 

Chato squeezed Harley's hand, trying not to scream as Floyd cut across his abdomen. He moaned low in his throat as Floyd started to cut into what everyone assumed was a makeshift uterus, squeezing his eyelids together. 

The boomerang clattered to the floor and Floyd nervously reached into the organ. Chato screamed. Floyd jerked his hands out. 

"Get him out!" Chato growled, "Ignore me! He's suffocating!" 

Floyd reached into the organ again, feeling around and grabbing onto what he hopped was the baby's body. He pulled the baby out. 

Chato wondered feverishly if Grace felt pain like this when giving birth. He regretted missing it, she had been in so much pain without him. In his haze of pain, he could almost feel her, hear her voice once again. 

The baby squalled the second she was brought into contact with the air.

"Aye Chato, we guessed wrong, it's a girl." Floyd laughed hysterically. "You got a baby girl, man!" For a brief moment he considered handing her to Digger, but turned to Harley. "Harley, hold her for me." 

"Oh, I hope she doesn't have a fear of clowns!" Harley muttered as the crying infant was handed to her. Such a mundane thing to say in such a tense situation. 

Floyd reached back in for the source of the umbilical cord, listening to Chato's labored breathing and Harley attempting to calm the baby by cooing and shushing her. 

Chato heard the crying through the haze, he reached up, tugged on Harley's sleeve. "Harl--" 

"Yes, sweetie?" 

"Her name--"

"We can talk about it later-" 

"Harley there isn't gonna be a later--" 

"Chato don't say that-"

"Grace." 

"What?" 

"Her name." He licked his lips, trying to get some moisture to them. He groaned painfully, tears prickling in the edges of his eyes as Floyd carefully pulled out the placenta. "Her name is Grace." 

The colors and light started to blur together, shapes lost form, black spots filled his vision. Someone was yelling, but everything sounded underwater. Something warm was pressed on his chest. A little hand touched his cheek. 

Then he saw nothing. 

\- 

"Put that ankle-biter back in him!" 

"Digger I can't!" 

Harley frantically ripped at the stitching in her shirt as Digger and Floyd argued in the background. Thread, thread, they needed thread to stitch his belly back together. 

"C'mon, c'mon you stupid--" she pulled at the stitching, trying to get more string, they needed more, they needed a needle. "Digger go find a fucking needle!" She screamed, trying to get the stitching out. 

Digger scrambled up, pulling Waylon with him. "Need your eyes, man." 

Blood was all over the floor, it was all over Floyd, it was all over Chato, it was all over Grace, it was on Harley. She shakily held the thread she had pulled from her shirt, hoping it would be strong enough to hold Chato's stomach together. She wished they were normal. If they were normal they could go to a hospital. 

Grace bubbled happily on her dying father's chest, unaware of the chaos around her. She patted Chato's cheek gently, moving up and down with his shallow breathing. 

The door moaned, falling inward on itself in the entree way. Harley started crying, they had been found, everything was really all for naught. 

"Jesus H. Christ." Rick Flag stood in the doorway, greeted by a bloody show, a cesarean gone wrong. 

Harley Quinn saw him through her tears. "Help us!" She shrieked at him. 

"Hey, hey calm down-- I have a first aid kit, calm down--" 

"He doesn't need a first aid kit you fucking idiot! He needs a doctor!" Harley screeched. Floyd just looked at him, expression blank. 

"No no, I have what you need don't worry calm down." He moved to kneel with Floyd, reaching around his pack and pulling out the first aid kit. "I have needle and thread, calm down. Harley, take a deep breath, and pick up the baby, you need to support her head." 

Harley did as she was told, shaking. She picked up baby Grace gently, cradling her head in the crook of her elbow. 

Rick threaded the needle with shaky fingers. He hoped Chato didn't mind having a bit of an ugly scar. He went to work, stitching the organ Grace used to inhabit together first. He figured Chato's body had been damaged enough, he wouldn't try to remove it. Then he started working on his stomach. 

Digger and Croc came blundering down the stairs. "There ain't nothin' in this damn- oh- what?" 

Rick finished stitching Chato back together. "One of you do me a favor and lift him up while I wrap this around him?" Waylon volunteered. Despite his appearance, he was softer at heart. He applied antiseptic and prayed that would be enough, before wrapping the wound with a bit of gauze to pad the wound. Then he removed his tank top. It was bloody, and without serious bleach, it wasn't going to come out. 

Harley wrapped Grace in a spare blanket Floyd had gotten earlier. The baby seemed content enough, despite what had just occurred. 

Rick put Chato's letterman over him, then he put the shock blanket over him as well. The guy lost a lot of blood, he needed all the help containing body heat that he could get. 

"When he wakes up, get him to drink water. A lot. Don't force him to take big sips, but get him to drink water. He's lost a lot of blood." Rick instructed. 

"I know." Floyd looked at his hands, covered in blood. 

"Take a shower Mr. D. We'll be fine down here." Harley gave him a reluctant smile.

"I have to go--" Rick stood up. 

"They're gonna ask why you've been in here so long, sheila." Digger remarked. "You gonna give us up?" 

"I'll make up an excuse." He said. "Be careful. I can only give you so much of a head start." 

"Thanks." Waylon said. 

"And fix the door!" Harley called as he left. 

-

Harley hummed as she bathed Grace in the sink. She was such a happy baby. It was hard to believe she came from Mr Hotpants McBarelytalks. She scrubbed at a little patch of blood on Grace's chubby arm. She wished she had some Dawn. 

"Hey craziness, how's it comin' in the bathing department?" Digger called from the living room. 

"She's really well behaved!" Harley responded, picking her up out of the sink, wrapping her in another blanket. After she got Grace dry and safe in Floyd's arms she was going to see if the washing and drying machines were still in the house, and if they were, if they still worked. The probability of them being there though was rather slim. "Is Floyd there?" 

"Yep, and I'm squeaky clean!" He said, walking into the living room in nothing but his uniform pants. 

"Put some clothes on ya' nudist!" She laughed, transferring Grace to yet another blanket, before carrying her over to Floyd.

"She looks like him." Floyd commented, sitting down. Digger looked at him like he was crazy. 

"Like hell she looks like him! She ain't got any crap on her face." 

"Digger, look at her face. It looks just like his." 

They needed this candid moment. They needed this after what just happened. With a little luck, all of them would pull through. 

-

It was afternoon when Chato stirred. 

His guts hurt. He felt oddly lighter, like he just dropped twenty pounds. It also felt like a part of him was missing. He felt hot, hotter than normal, which was saying something considering his internal temperature. He pushed up and something crinkled. 

"Oh, be careful, you might rip ya' stitches!" That voice was was all too familiar. 

"Where--" he opened his eyes, pushing himself up carefully, mindful of the aching in his guts. "Where's Grace?" 

"She's here." Floyd was to his right, he put her, swaddled up in the blanket, in Chato's lap. 

He moved his arms from supporting himself to try to hold the baby, almost falling backward if not for someone supporting him from behind. It was Digger and Floyd. 

"Careful mate, don't want a repeat of this morning." Digger chuckled nervously. 

"De nada." He smiled weakly, carefully hoisting Grace in his arms. 

"Support her head--" Floyd gave him a few pointers on how to hold her. 

Harley handed him a bottle of water. "Drink up, hot stuff. Rick said you need lots of fluids." 

Chato was worried he wouldn't be able to hold anything down, he only took a few tentative sips to start. After a few minutes he took a bigger sip. 

"Ooh. El Diablo, risk-taker." Digger chuckled.


End file.
